Ann Arbor area market searching for $105,000 lottery winner

But one lucky - and possibly unaware - player in the Ann Arbor area beat the odds this week.

Out of 18 Fantasy 5 tickets sold at Tippins Market on Ann Arbor-Saline Road for the Feb. 22 drawing, one was for the jackpot: $105,000.

That money, said Tippins Market employee Dominic Aprea, has yet to be claimed at the lottery headquarters in Lansing. Now, Aprea is searching for the winner.

“I guess sometimes people don’t claim their winning tickets, but that seems to crazy to me. People play for fun and sometimes don’t even realize they win," Aprea said.

Aprea has printed out fliers and posted them around the specialty wine and foods store in the hope that the winning customer will step forward. The Lodi Township store has never sold a jackpot ticket before, he said.

“I don’t think people expect to win, so to actually have a winner is really exciting for whoever it might be,” he said.

Fantasy 5 tickets cost $1 each, and the jackpot is $100,000 for matching five numbers on the ticket to the drawing. It increases daily by at least $5,000 until someone gets a full match. The winning ticket for Feb. 22, according to the state lottery website, is 01-11-14-20-25.

Unclaimed prizes for Michigan online lottery tickets are valid for one year after the draw date. If no one comes forward, the prize money is transferred to the state School Aid Fund.

The largest unclaimed prize in Michigan is $1,000,000 from a June 2011 Classic Lotto 47 ticket that was sold in Howell, Mich. The website has a list of the state’s top unclaimed prizes.

Comments

Maxwell

Sat, Feb 25, 2012 : 10:59 p.m.

What? You mean I have to pay 4.25% state income tax on 105K lottery earnings!?! Why that makes it hardly worth cashing the ticket! Now seriously people - this is about as lame an argument on can have about taxes - get some perspective please!

Brad

Sat, Feb 25, 2012 : 12:12 p.m.

Alternate headline: &quot;Market searching for person who managed to avoid state's voluntary tax on people with poor math skills&quot;.

Berda Green

Sat, Feb 25, 2012 : 7:45 a.m.

wish it was me lord have mercy some ppl are so lucky

Greggy_D

Sat, Feb 25, 2012 : 4:25 a.m.

And what exactly is the &quot;School Aid Fund&quot;? What are the funds used for? Who controls the disbursement?

Tru2Blu76

Sat, Feb 25, 2012 : 1:24 a.m.

After taxes, that $105 K will not be nearly so exciting. Michigan - is one of the states which agreed to apply state taxes to lottery winnings. In other states, winners only pay federal income tax. Where's our intrepid Governor Ri¢k $nyder on this issue?